The present invention relates to a flexible fastener for garments and especially bathing suits and lingerie, particularly for use as a back strap fastener. More particularly, the invention relates to a press button type fastener for such garments.
Garment fasteners for securing the backstrap of a garment, for example, a brassiere, some other undergarments or articles of lingerie, a swimsuit or the like can have various configurations to facilitate connection of the backstrap and separation thereof and must, in addition, be capable of withstanding substantial tension thereon. It is advantageous, moreover, that the fastener be flexible for comfort. Esthetic considerations are also significant.
The most typical fasteners for this purpose are hook and eye fasteners in which usually a plurality of eyes are provided on one part of the backstrap and can be engaged by a lesser number of hooks on another part of the backstrap. The hooks are usually composed of metal. While this type of fastener is widely used, it has the disadvantage that the hooks can damage the garment or other garments in use and may not be comfortable for the wearer. In laundering the hooks likewise pose a problem.
Pushbutton fasteners have been developed in which a press button is releasably engageable in an eyelet and, while such fasteners have eliminated drawbacks of the conventional hook and eye type fastener and may even be used in a manner similar to that of the hook and eye fastener, the system may not be practical or desirable for all purposes. For example, in swimsuits and the like, a high degree of flexibility may be required and previous systems for mounting plastic or stud type fasteners may be inadequate.
Furthermore, there is increasing interest in see-through garments or garments with see-through portions which cannot accommodate conventional fasteners.
It is, therefore, the principal object of the invention to provide a garment fastener which is free from the drawbacks of earlier fasteners as described above.
Another object of this invention is to provide a garment fastener, particularly suitable for brassieres, lingerie and swimsuits and especially as a backstrap fastener thereof, which can be easily mounted and easily operated.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved garment fastener having esthetic characteristics distinguishing it from earlier garment fasteners.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of making a garment fastener for swimsuits, brassieres, lingerie and the like.
We have found that it is possible to provide a garment fastener, especially for the backstrap of a swimsuit or other garment which has male and female fastener parts, each of which has a carrier tape which can be composed of flexible polyurethane and can be transparent or translucent and onto which the respective cooling members can be fitted and secured in place by engagement of male and female portions of each coupling member through holes formed in the carrier tape. In addition, the engaging elements of each coupling member can be ultrasonically welded together through the respective hole.
To prevent shifting of the injection-molded coupling members, each consisting of two elements joined together through the hole, the carrier tape may be formed with rings around the holes and over which the flanges of the elements can extend. Preferably these flanges have ridges engageable behind the rings and preferably in grooves around the rings.
The holding ring prevents the carrier tape from slipping out of the two elements or two parts of the stud.
From an esthetic point of view, the fastener is advantageous in that the carrier tape can be transparent or translucent, in keeping with the interest in see-through garments, or of a color which can be the same as or different from the colors of the studs which are applied to the carrier tape. Since the two elements forming a stud and applied to different sides of the tape can be molded to be of different colors or the same color, the number of color schemes provided by the studs and tapes is further enhanced.
On the male fastener part, the studs form press buttons which engage in the eyelets formed by the studs on the female fastener part.
According to the invention, therefore, a flexible fastener for a garment can comprise:
a female fastener member including a first flexible carrier tape composed of a synthetic resin and having at least one hole, a ring molded from the first flexible tape and surrounding the hole, and an eyelet fitting into the hole and composed of ring-shaped elements pressed one into another through the hole and having respective flanges on opposite sides of the first flexible carrier tape overlying the ring of the first flexible tape; and
a male fastener member including a second flexible carrier tape composed of a synthetic resin and having at least one hole, a ring molded from the second flexible tape and surrounding the hole of the second flexible tape, and a press button fitting into the hole of the second flexible tape and composed of ring-shaped elements pressed one into another through the hole of the second flexible tape and having respective flanges on opposite sides of the second flexible tape overlying the ring of the second flexible tape.
Advantageously, the elements which, when pressed together through the hole form the eyelet stud or the press button stud, can be molded on a trunk which can be folded so that these elements straddle the tape and are pressed together through the holes.
When the elements are to be pressed into a soft plastic rather than a foil, the upper male part of the press button and the lower female part for the press button can each be provided with teeth spaced around the respective flange and adapted to bite into the soft plastic foil.